Stripped.

You know how I felt yesterday? Like I had been completely stripped.

I felt like I actually wanted to be closer to God, sans the religion and church and everything “Jesus” that has been commercialized. I actually just wanted quiet time without all the noise of religion. Does that make any sense?

I have seen a lot in the church world and unfortunately, a lot of it makes me shutter at the thought of being a “Christian.” I hate that many (not all) people are so judgmental. I hate that so many (not all) churches want to mold you into their idea of a what a Christian should be. You know what? Yeah, I have a tattoo and I am going to get another one. Does that make me love God any less? You know what? I love listening to Bob Marley on rainy days. Does that make me love God any less because my radio is not set to the ‘Christian radio station’ at all times? I remember one girl at my church thought I should destroy my CD collection because it was “worldly.”

I never did.

So yesterday I totally embraced that feeling. It felt so good. It was a feeling I had lost so long ago- somewhere in a church pew. I felt like I had totally been stripped of all the junk, and I was getting back to what- ahem, WHO- God is in my life. That’s exactly it. He is not the ‘what’. He is the ‘Who’.

Highchair update:

ISSUE RESOLVED (and pretty quickly, I might add.)

I sent out a slew of emails to the higher ups at Toys R Us after the store manager (Marcia, pronounced Mar-see-a, at the Pineville store in Charlotte, NC) told me there was absolutely nothing she would do for me regardless of the situation. I understand policy, but c’mon you sold me a nasty highchair. I had also filed a report with thier complaint department who told me they would get back to me by Wednesday.

Instead I got a phone call early Monday morning from the director of consumer relations. She was very, very apologetic- falling all over herself to apologize as the manager should have. “Do whatever you want with the highchair. We are sending you a giftcard for the amount of the highchair today.”

“By the way,” I asked. “Did you call because of the report I filed?”

“Uh, no. You sent a few e-mails to some executives?”

I started laughing. “Yeah, I was really, really mad….”

I guess if the manager doesn’t give a crap, then corporate is the next step. It’s just frustrating that I had to do all of that to get what I deserved. They handled it really well once the complaint was in the right hands. And by the way, I was happy to see on my stat counter that the guys at Toys R Us read my blog a few times and again today. Boo! to the manager but the corporate guys get props. I mean, I sent these emails out on Sunday night and by Monday morning these guys had viewed my post with the pictures and had this thing resolved. Now that is how you do business. I am impressed.

But my final word on this is that their return/exchange policy needs a serious makeover. I have spoken to a few people who are warning people (even before this incident) to steer clear of their registry. Apparently, Target is now getting the disgruntled Toys R Us customers.

Like I said, customers want low prices and easy returnability. I’m even willing to pay a little more just to ensure I won’t be stuck with something like a nasty re-sold highchair. I hope the guys at Toys R Us get the message that their return policy is seriously hurting their reputation (and managers like Marcia don’t help, either.)

I know how I feel but I am just curious. What would you do? They resolve the situation on the corporate level, but do you go back because they fixed the problem so quickly or do you steer clear because of their crazy return policy and rude store manager?

The ice cream man…

I remember the first time I heard the icecream music. The kids and I scrounged our change and ran out to wait for the icecream guy to come our way. The icecream truck happened to be an old, beat up brown van with a little old boombox that plays icecream truck beats…you know the ones.

We stood on our front porch and waited. But as he approached us, he sped up and passed us right by. That’s weird, I thought.

Every now and then, I would see the brown truck during the summer but I never saw any kids getting any icecream. I really hadn’t even thought about that until today…when I heard the music again. Icecream in November in the Carolinas? Okay. I don’t think the icecream trucks even come in November in Florida.

So he was parked around the corner, as usual with his little music blaring. I stood and watched a handful of construction workers go up to the van. That’s weird. The construction workers taking an icrcream break. Whatever, I thought. And then I saw the icecream man open the van door and a guy hops in. Door closes, and a few seconds later guy hops out. It happened again with the next guy in line. And again.

I had finally figured out why the icecream guy sped by us that day. Because he’s not the icecream man! He’s the drug man!

Funny thing is we live in a nice area. I totally expected this in my old neighborhood, but not here. I guess Icecream guy goes where the construction workers go. I told hubby, he’ll be gone by the time their finished building and we’ll be in Florida. Yeah, these are the things that keep my life interesting on a daily basis…finally connecting the dots and realizing that there is a reason Icecream man doesn’t have an icecream menu on his van.

You think they have code words? “Yeah man, I’ll take an ice cream sandwich and two fudgsicles.”

And this kind of stuff happens to me…why? (*Updated)

So Eli is ready for his high chair. I have been bugging and bugging my husband to put this thing together for almost a month now. So today, I decided to do it myself. I do not like to beg. I begin to put it together when it feels kind of greasy. I took a closer look, and there was food grease all over it. Ewwww!! They resold the highchair and didn’t even clean it up. Nasty.

I called Toys R Us to complain and the manager told me I had to speak to the GM. Because I do not have my receipt, he told me he couldn’t help me. Duh! I don’t have a receipt because I got this at my baby shower. It was on my Toys R Us baby registry! And no, she didn’t give me a gift receipt. They should be falling all over themselves apologizing for this. Ugh. I’ll be going in there tomorrow. Will let you know. (I promise Toys R Us: this isn’t a scam where I travel cross country, going to all the Toys R Us stores trying to get a brand new highchair out of a used one. I mean, really.)

I told you it was nasty. The last picture is the inside of a piece of the highchair. All those spots are grease spots. Yuck!!

Update:
I am not shopping at Toys R Us anymore unless this issue is seriously resolved. The GM told me that I could not return or exchange the item after 90 days, even with a receipt “no matter what.” As of June, that was their new policy. The return policy at Toys R Us sucks, and is not consumer friendly. They’re going down with policies like this. That is why Wal Mart is killing everyone. Low prices and easy returnability. (Is that a word?)

So I called corporate and my “report” was referred to a “resolution” team. They are supposed to call me back by Wednesday. Boo Toys R Us! Boo! Is it really worth losing a customer over a $50 highchair?

My husband said “I’ll just clean it off for you.” But beyond the filth, I have to wonder why the previous owner returned it. It might really be defective. If they don’t take it back, maybe I’ll get the grossest piece of the highchair and ship it to the CEO. (The one in the pictures.) Hehe. No, I’m serious. I’m sure he wouldn’t put his kid in this gross thing.

2nd update:
I sent out emails to some of the Toys R Us execs with pics and a link to my blog. The Director of Marketing actually responded in a matter of hours and on a Sunday night. I was impressed with that.

Thank you for your note. I do sincerely apologize forthe inconvenience that this has caused you.I cannot comment on the in-store return policy but amconcered about the service that we have provided.I am cc'ing our Customer Care representative and askingthat she researches whether there is something that wecan do to remedy this situation.

Alex LePage

Thanks, Alex. Now all I need is my highchair. (I’m thinking that maybe a note from a higher up will do the trick since being a customer holds no weight.)

***

So all of a sudden, these random guys started Im’ing me. At first, I was like…I don’t know you and then I would deny the add. And then this morning, this guy was like…you don’t remember me? We chatted on AFF. You are naomirich?”

“I have never heard of AFF.”

“Adult F…. F…..” (trying to keep the google perves away.)

“Um, no but please let naomirich know that I am getting her traffic.”

So some chic is using the screenname that matches my e-mail. Great. So I look up this website just to see, and let me just put it this way: they are considered the number one website for swing ers. Nice.

I’m glad I’m not married to some crazy, jealous man. He’d really think I was screwing around because every time I log in, I get a message like “Hey sexy, it was good chatting with you lastnight.” Oh, and this from a guy named “Shaaaft” or “BigBoi_69″ You get the picture.

Nice.

And so I wrote all this just to ask: and this stuff happens to me, why?

Thanksgiving 2006

On Thursday, I woke up around 9:30 and me and hubby laid in bed and hung out for about an hour. What a luxury. We never get to do that. We spent the next hour looking up YouTube videos. He didn’t even know what YouTube was. So now he’s hooked. Our favorite by far were these two.

Around noon, we headed over to Melissa’s house. We were listening to John Mayer’s “Daughters” and everything was quiet. That is my daughter’s song. Christian’s is Sunshine of my life. I haven’t found Eli’s yet. He needs to behave first. hehe. So, hubby was holding my hand and the kids were happy. All of a sudden, I was thinking…wow, we’re really happy and not dysfunctional. That made me really happy for my kids because I know how both my husband and I grew up.

I brought a bottle of wine and a chocolate cake. Mmmmm. When we picked up the cake (yes, picked it up) I said to Naomi “Chocolate cake for the girls.” So when we got to Melissa’s house she announced to everyone: “Chocolate cake for the girls!”

Just after two, we sat down to eat and Melissa gets props. That girl can cook! Although I did see a box by the door marked “Dinner in a box.” Hmmm…I wonder if that had anything to do with it. JUST KIDDING.

As soon as Eli saw the spread of food, he couldn’t wait to dig in. I can’t wait! Can I have the wing, mama?

Actually, I have a nice jar of..baby food for you.

Awwww man!

We had the usual Thanksgiving favorites: Turkey, ham, homemade mac and cheese, yams, mashed potatoes and gravy and the list goes on. And for desert…two homemade pecan pies, a blueberry pie, chocolate cake and something called Pumpkin crunch. Anyone ever had that? It was so, so good.

Here is the baby version of man unzipping jeans and sitting on the couch to watch football after a huge Thanksgiving meal, heh.

After dinner, we sat around and watch The Office Season II DVD. That was the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving…with friends, family and Dwight Schrut.

Thankful…

Sometimes I wonder…if I had only ever seen a monotonously-colored sky, how would I react to something like this? It would deserve much more than a quick glance, wouldn’t it? I’d probably pull up a chair and take it all in.

I love that nature does not discriminate (because God does not,) and that we all share the same sky. You know, the rich guys don’t get the “upgrade.” Nope. Oprah’s sky is my sky, too.

I know it’s easy to be desensitized to the ever-changing, ever-beautiful sky. So tonight I just want to put it on paper…that I am thankful for beautifully painted skies.

Thank you, God.

So much more than a red pacifier…

Okay, first of all let me say that this picture is totally unfair. Eli is way closer to the camera. I promise, he’s not that much bigger than Melissa’s baby, A. They are only two months apart. Doesn’t he look like a giant in this picture?

So, it hailed today! I have never even seen- or felt- hail. But I did today. I was getting out of my car when the rain started pelting me and it really hurt. That’s when I realized that this was more than rain. It was so cold and I knew that as soon as I stepped inside my home, I would not want to leave again. So I picked up the kiddies and we headed to Melissa’s house.

This was Eli’s and A’s first official play date. They were super cute. And it seems like she has already learned a lot from watching her mommy and daddy. And Eli, too, seems to have picked up a few things.

Today, a red pacifier. Tomorrow, my dream home:

Well, well, well…what do we have here?

A little boy with a lovely red pacifier. Can I have it?

Pretty Please…I’ll be your best friend.

This is a tough one. Mom, what should I do?What? I have to be nice to girls. Always?

Okay, you can have my red pacifier. My momma said I have to be nice to girls. Plus, you’re cute:)

Na, I don’t really want it. Just wanted to see if you would give it up. So this is how momma gets everything she wants from daddy. I’m taking note.

I guess we’re not that stupid afterall… O.J. Si…

I guess we’re not that stupid afterall…

O.J. Simpson Book, TV Special Canceled

By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

NEW YORK — After a firestorm of criticism, News. Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and TV special “If I Did It.”

“I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. “We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.”

A dozen Fox affiliates had already said they would not air the two-part sweeps month special, planned for next week before the Nov. 30 publication of the book by ReganBooks. The publishing house is a HarperCollins imprint owned _ like the Fox network _ by News Corp.

In both the book and show, Simpson speaks in hypothetical terms about how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole and her friend Goldman.

Relatives of the victims have lashed out at the now scuttled publication and broadcast plans.

“He destroyed my son and took from my family Ron’s future and life. And for that I’ll hate him always and find him despicable,” Fred Goldman told ABC last week.

The industry trade publication Broadcasting & Cable editorialized against the show Monday, saying “Fox should cancel this evil sweeps stunt.”

One of the nation’s largest superstore chains, Borders Group Inc., said last week it would donate any profits on the book to charity.

Simpson was acquitted in 1995 of murder in a case that became its own TV drama. The former football star and announcer was later found liable for the deaths in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Goldman family.

Judith Regan, publisher of “If I Did It,” said she considered the book to be Simpson’s confession.

The television special was to air on two of the final three nights of the November sweeps, when ratings are watched closely to set local advertising rates. It has been a particularly tough fall for Fox, which has seen none of its new shows catch on and is waiting for the January bows of “American Idol” and “24.”

The closest precedent for such an about-face came when CBS yanked a miniseries about Ronald Reagan from its schedule in 2003 when complaints were raised about its accuracy. The Reagan series was seen on its sister premium-cable channel, Showtime, instead.

One station manager who had said he wasn’t airing the special said he was concerned that whether or not Simpson was guilty, he’d still be profiting from murders.

“I have my own moral compass and this was easy,” said Bill Lamb, general manager of WDRB in Louisville.

For the publishing industry, the cancellation of “If I Did It” was an astonishing end to a story like no other. Numerous books have been withdrawn over the years because of possible plagiarism, most recently Kaavya Viswanathan’s “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life,” but a book’s removal simply for objectionable content is virtually unheard of.

Sales had been strong, but not sensational. “If I Did It” cracked the top 20 of Amazon.com last weekend, but by Monday afternoon, at the time its cancellation had been announced, the book had fallen to No. 51.

Happy Birthday, too.

Lastnight I had this dream:

I was sitting in the back of a church, when I saw my sister sitting in the very first pew. The preacher began to speak about how her death began and ended in just 3 weeks. Then he looked back to me and said, “Recently, There was a child crying and moaning who you were both not able to be with.“

I was confused. Right then, a woman with a small child turned around from the seat in front of me and gasped, like she was delightfully surprised.

“Your sister is sitting to the right of you,” she said with a smile.

“I don’t see anyone,” I said with a serious attitude. I looked away with a straight face. “She says, ‘Happy Birthday, too.’” the woman said.

“I can’t see her though, I’d like to see her…see what she is doing.“

I looked up and it looked as if the sky (not the ceiling) were opening. I saw her feet and then the hem of a long, flowing dress. By now I was standing. I kept backing up, trying to see more clearly and then my back hit a wall. And just as I hit the wall, the woman with the child said “Stop. Stop the dream.”

And I woke up at that instant. And I remembered everything so clearly. When I woke up I looked up to my right and felt like someone was there. And so I grabbed my husband and woke him up. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I had a dream about my sister.”

***

It was 4:45 a.m. when I looked at the clock. I was afraid I would forget the details and so I picked them apart in my mind. I knew who the child was. The child was my niece- my sister’s 8-year-old daughter. On Friday, she had been really, really sick. She had a really weird allergic reaction.

My last post, the letter I wrote to my sister was titled ‘Happy Birthday.’ We also lit a candle for her on her birthday and let it burn the entire day. When I lit it, the kids sang Happy Birthday to her. I didn’t know they were going to do that. It was really sad for me. I had to walk away. I have had one birthday since my sister died. But I hadn’t had any contact around that time. I feel like she was saying, well…Happy Birthday, too.

This morning I had to find my marriage license, and I searched my filing cabinet. I opened the bottom drawer- the one I stay away from- because my sister used it when she lived in my house and her stuff is still in it. I found her daily planner. The very last day she had marked was her birthday. She had it circled with little stars drawn all around the date. She had written: “My 24th birthday!”

Happy Birthday

baby girl.

It is midnight. 12:01 to be exact, and that means it is officially your 25th birthday.

I know you know I am crying right now. Today I went to get a new phone from the Alltel lady and when she took the old one away I stopped her because of that text message you sent me.- the last one ever- right before you died. And I started to cry- right there in the middle of the Alltel store. I told her “I just need to keep that message.” So she emailed me your message, and I was able to give up the phone.

Naomi and I went to dinner tonight. She was talking about you all day today. You know what she said while I was driving? It hurt my heart. “I remember last Christmas I was hanging candy canes on the Christmas tree when I heard Yelena getting a shot.”

“She wasn’t getting a shot, baby. She was in a lot of pain. Her body was hurting her a lot.” That was right before you had that really big seizure and the paramedics came once again. It was the last time they came for you.

After dinner, we went to Target and bought a candle for your birthday. Naomi carried that candle in her lap and in her own words: “so that it won’t break because it is a special candle for Yelena.” We are going to light it tomorrow. I still have those shoes I gave you last year for your birthday. You never got the chance to wear them. They are sitting in a box in my closet. I am not sure what to do with them.

The one thing I will always keep is your bridesmaids dress from my wedding. Mom is so thankful that you were in my wedding because that is how she remembers you: in that pretty red dress in the middle of December.

I like to look at my wedding pictures. I have one hanging up that I look at almost everyday. Everyone else is looking away, but you are looking straight into the camera and I feel like you are looking right at me.

When I got home tonight, I checked my email. And there was that message the Alltel lady had sent to my email. It was your message. It simply said: “I love you. Yelena.”

I love you, too. And I miss you. I hope you have something to say to me tonight.

I love you again.